Try tea room at Relics for creative lunches, great desserts

Feb. 1, 2013

Loading Photo Galleries ...

Written by

News-Leader

The chicken Waldorf sandwich is full of ever-changing textures and flavors. Ed Peaco/For the News-Leader

More

ADVERTISEMENT

If you aren’t an antique enthusiast, you may not know about Relics Antique Mall Tea Room, but you should.

Not only is it a convenient amenity for Relics shoppers, it’s a great lunch spot for workers. The light yet hearty choices will fortify you for the rest of the work day, though the appealing desserts may be hard to avoid.

Owners Beverly and Matthew Robb hired chef Daryl Tate at the first of the year. A few menu changes, mainly among desserts, will take place in the coming weeks, Beverly Robb said.

The tea room is based on the Robbs’ experience with their antique mall in Fort Worth, Texas, which they recently sold after 18 years of ownership. They quickly grasped the need to provide for tired and hungry shoppers. However, at the outset, they had only vending machines with candy bars and chips.

“We knew we needed something to offer them, because they’d go away for lunch, and sometimes they came back, and sometimes they wouldn’t,” she said. Within two years of operation in Fort Worth, they opened a tea room, and it became highly successful.

“It’s nice to have somewhere to sit down and relax, think about your purchases, think about what you’ve seen,” she said.

For the Springfield tea room, the Robbs looked for dishes that would have wide appeal but were a little different, she said. The quiche is an example of this thinking. In Fort Worth, the quiche is served traditionally as a slice of a pie. “Here, it’s an individual puff pastry, your own little quiche tart,” she said.

The Robbs, who are Ozarks natives, moved to Springfield six years ago, started an antique shop in Mount Vernon and in 2010 opened the 90,000 square-foot mall on Battlefield Road just west of Kansas Expressway.

For sampling, they served the house iced tea, two entrées and two desserts.

Apricot mango iced tea ($1.99): This tea has crisp fruit flavor and fascinating color, a little brighter than typical iced tea. In addition, the menu lists 15 varieties of hot tea ($2.99 per pot), such as cranberry apple hibiscus, Darjeeling India and masala chai. Two specialty coffees ($1.87-$1.99) are available each day.

(Page 2 of 2)

Florentine quiche ($6.95): A milk blend of eggs, cream and baby Swiss and parmesan cheeses, with baby spinach, mushrooms and green onions in an individual crust, covered with a layer of baby Swiss and served with garden salad. The hearty filling had mellow flavors, and the crust was a little crispy as well as flaky. The salad came with a robust home-made dill dressing. In short: surprising, enjoyable and satisfying.

Chicken Waldorf sandwich ($7.95): Baked chicken with grapes, apples, celery, dried cranberries, onions and English walnuts combined in a creamy tarragon-seasoned mayonnaise on a croissant. The sandwich was full of ever-changing textures and flavors. Tarragon, apples and dried cranberries were constant, with celery providing crunch here, apples bringing bright flavor there, and the nuts adding body. The croissants, as well as the bread for all sandwiches, are baked on site.

Cranberry and English walnut scone ($3.99): Served with strawberry jam and a sweet white sauce of cream cheese icing and Devonshire cream. The scone had a hint of cinnamon. Chef Tate said he glazes the scones with a mixture of half and half and powdered sugar. Classic scone texture and taste.

Apple pie with caramel sauce ($4.50, $6.50 with ice cream): Homemade crust with filling from Springfield Grocers — a rare departure from the made-from-scratch practice. Tate said he was highly impressed with the filling when he tasted the tart apple and cinnamon flavor. Sure enough, the filling was impressive like Gramma¹s. The sauce seemed to gather all the flavors and enhance them.

In addition to the apple pie with caramel sauce, Beverly Rob mentioned several desserts that will appear on the menu in the near future:

· Banana caramel parfait.

· Flourless chocolate torte.

· Another apple pie topping still being developed: brandy butter and ice cream.